Darkness and Light
by Turquoise Rose
Summary: BOOK 7 SPOILERS! Follows the friendship of Sev and Lily.
1. Chapter 1

Darkness and Light by Turquoise Rose

Disclaimer - I own none of these characters. They belong to J.K. Rowling.

The sun was just about to start setting on the grassy hill just beside the playground. The pleasant late summer breeze made the weather absolutely perfect. If you listened closely enough, you could hear the gleeful giggling of a little girl and boy.

"Haha! Stop it!" Lily cried out playfully as she ran. The little red-headed girl stopped for a brief moment to catch her breath, but was soon off sprinting again. Indeed, she was running. Running away from a scrawny dark headed little boy, Severus. Both had wide smiles on their faces as they played in the grass.

Lily's foot caught on something and the hit the ground with a soft thud. Immediately, Severus's face became concerned.

"Lily!" He rushed to her. "Are you alright?" She rolled over giggling. Severus smiled and let out a small chuckle. He sat next to her. Although Lily and Severus only met a few hours ago, they were already able to sit together in such comfortable silence. After a few minutes, Lily sat up and faced Severus. This surprised him greatly, and he scooted back from her.

"You don't have many friends, do you?" Lily asked calmly.

"What? Why would you ask something like that?" he replied defensively. She didn't say anything. All Lily did was look at him. Her piercing green eyes just gazing at Severus. His face softened as he thought about what she just asked him. His head began to droop as he looked down at the grass.

"Sev?" Lily said cautiously.

"No. I don't. Other kids usually take one look at me and avoid me. Either that or their parents pull them away from me. Like I'm diseased or something." Severus's voice had hints of anger in it. Lily reached out and touched Severus's arm.

"It's their loss. If only they gave you a chance. Talked to you, played with you, they'd see what a wonderful person you are."  
"You're just saying that! Don't lie." Severus snapped.

"I'm not."

"I bet the only reason you're out here playing with me is because your sister is away with her friends and you're bored."

Lily looked hurt. "That's not true!" Severus got up and began to walk away. Lily stood up and began shouting. "That's why nobody likes you! The second anyone tries to get to know you, you block them out. You walk away! What's wrong with you! Can't you see? I just want to get to know you! I want to be your friend, but I can't be friends with someone I don't know!"

Severus stopped walking but didn't dare turn around.

"To everyone else, you're the Snape boy, or the kid from Spinner's End, or who knows what other names they call you. But to me, you're Severus. The lonely, hurt little boy who deserves a chance. The boy who's smart, and kind, and caring. When I fell, you came to me immediately wondering if I was okay. You're a good person, and nobody knows it. I want to know why. Why you hide away from people."

Severus sat back down on the grass. Lily walked up to him slowly and sat down. He kept his eyes away from Lily's.

"It's what I've been doing my whole life. Hiding. Hiding from my dad, hiding my thoughts and feeling and opinions from him. In my house, there are no, "I love you's", there are no, "good morning's", or "goodnight's", no hugs or kisses. No smiles or laughing." Severus's voice began to break. "There's just hatred and anger and violence and pain and bitterness and misery. And I hide from it. It's all that I've ever known. It's all I've ever known from anyone." A few tears had leaked from his eyes. "You're the first person ever in my life who actually cared. Who actually wants to know about me." He sniffed and wiped his eyes. Finally he looked up at Lily and saw that she too had tears in her eyes. "Why are you crying?"

"I can feel the pain in your heart. It makes me sad." Lily paused. "I know what it's like to have to hide things from people."

"What do you mean?" Severus asked.

"I can do odd things, that other people can't. My parents and my sister know, but nobody else does. Mum told me to try not to show people what I can do." She reached down and picked a blade of grass. She held out her hand and the blade of grass. The grass began to crawl around on Lily's hand as if it were a worm. Severus's eyes widened and he looked at Lily. "I've been able to do thinks like that for almost as long as I can remember. But I've never been able to tell anyone."

"Why did you tell me?" Severus asked cautiously.

"You trusted me enough to tell me about you. So I trusted you enough to show you."

They both sat in a kind of shocked silence. They leaned up against each other and watched the little grass worm crawl on them.

"Lily. Are you a wi--," Severus was interrupted by a shout from behind them.

"Lily Evans!!" The startled children turned around to see a woman walking towards them. Lily's mother. "You were supposed to be home an hour ago! You had me worried! Your sister said she couldn't find you! Where have you been?" Lily stood up quickly.

"I've been here in the field. I'm sorry Mum." A worried look was on Lily's face. Her mother smiled and kneeled down to her level.

"It's getting dark out and I don't want you getting hurt." Lily's mother explained

"I know." Lily replied meekly.

"Well come on then." Her mother stood up and took her hand. She began to walk but Lily stopped her.

"Wait. Mum. This is my friend. Severus."

Severus got up and faced Lily and her mother.

"Well, hello Severus."  
"Good evening Ma'am." Severus said.

"Oh, you're very polite. Do you need us to walk you home?"

Severus was surprised by such a generous offer. "No Ma'am. I'll be alright."

"Okay. Be careful on you way home." Lily's mother said with a smile. She began to walk away.

"Bye Severus! See you later!" Lily blurted quickly as she was led away by her mother.

"Bye." Severus said softly as he gave a quick wave to her.

For the first time in a long while, Severus was happy. She had called him a friend. Severus had a friend. A tiny smile stretched across his face as he made his way home.


	2. Chapter 2

[From Deathly Hallows Severus had gone out to the playground and hid behind a couple of bushes. As he watched Lily and her sister play on the swings, he saw her displaying some of her unique qualities. Petunia was getting upset and started to fuss at Lily. Severus came out from the bushes and came up to the two girls. They both became rather quiet around him. That is until Severus told Lily that she was a witch and revealed his own wizard status. Petunia, who was already in a mood, began to pull her sister away from the playground.

It was days later and Severus was sitting at home, alone in his room. He heard the doorbell ring.

"Severus!" His father yelled. "Come out of your room you lazy maggot and get the door!"

Severus obeyed. He quickly, but quietly ran down the stairs. He opened the front door, but only just enough to see who was outside. It was Lily.

"Hi Severus." Lily said quietly. Severus stepped outside.

"You shouldn't have come here." Severus said in a hushed voice.

"I had to. I had to say that I was sorry for how things happened the other day."

"Please, Lily. Go home."

"Severus? What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Severus said quickly. His lie was revealed almost instantly when a shatter came from inside.

"Severus! What's going on?" Lily asked franticly

From inside the house, several yells were hear from Severus's parents.

"Clean this house! Damn it Eileen! Can't you cook anything?! This junk is burned."

"It's not burned."

"Don't you dare talk back to me in that tone."

Severus looked down at the ground and shook his head.

"He doesn't treat my mum right." He got quiet. "You really should leave."

"Are you going to be okay?"

The front door creaked open. Severus's father was standing there ominously.

"Get inside." His father growled.

"Sev?" Lily peeped quietly.

"Go." Severus said in a serious voice.

Severus walked into his house. His father looked up and saw Lily standing there on the walkway. He shut the door hard. Lily stood there, listening to what was going on inside.

"Who was that?!" Tobias yelled.

"She's my friend." Severus said meekly.

"Don't you dare lie to me boy! You don't have friends! Who is she?!"

Lily heard a loud cry come from Severus, as well as what seemed to be a loud slap. Lily gasped. She was frozen in her stance. She felt her eyes tear up. She stood there for a while, but there was nothing but silence. Her breathing was panicked. She didn't know what to do. Eventually, she slowly began to walk away, stopping every once and a while to look back. What had happened at the Snape house had utterly frightened her. After supper, she went back out to the playground. To her relief, Severus was sitting out in the middle of the field. She ran up to him and sat next to him. He kept facing the ground.

"Sev! Is everything alright?"

"Yes." He didn't look up. Lily was perplexed.

"Look at me Severus." He kept his head still. Lily took her hand and gently placed it on his cheek. She tried to direct his face to face her, but he pulled against her. "Severus. Why won't you show me your face?"

Severus sighed heavily. He slowly looked up at her. As their eyes met, Lily saw something horrible. A large, swollen purple-ish bruise across his face. Lily gasped.

"Severus, oh my gosh. What did he do to you?"

"He was drunk again."

"That's no excuse. He should never hit you!"

"It always happens." Severus was looking down at the ground in shame. "Don't worry about it."

"I can't not worry about it. He hurt you Severus." He remained quiet. "It's all my fault."

"What are you talking about. No it's not."

"Yes it is. If I didn't come to your house, you wouldn't have come outside, and…"

"Lily, stop it! It's not your fault." Severus snapped. His voice softened. "Besides, if it wasn't today, it might have been tomorrow, or the day after."

"Severus, that's horrible. You shouldn't have to live like that."

"I can't do anything about it. That's why I can't wait until I go to Hogwarts. Then I can leave that horrible house."

"Hogwarts? What's that?"

"It's a wizarding school."

"Really? I've never heard of it? Can you tell me a bit about it?"

Severus didn't answer her immediately. "You know what Lily. I don't really feel much like talking right now." His voice broke and he started to cry.

Lily took Severus into her arms and held him. She rubbed his back comfortingly. Severus hugged her, and together they sat in the middle of the field in a tight embrace. They sat there for quite a while. Long enough for Severus to stop crying. Severus suddenly spoke.

"You should probably go home. Your mother will be upset with you again."

"Are you sure you don't need me?"

"Yeah. I'm fine now." Both of them stood up.

"Oh, Severus. How could you go back to that house?"

"I just do. I have nowhere else to go." Lily was about to say something, but he quickly stopped her. "I'll be okay. Stop worrying about me. Dad should be asleep by now. He works early, you know. I'll just go home and go back up to my room."

Lily hugged him again. She looked up at his face and gently kissed the bruise on his face. "You're a strong person. I really admire that." With that, Lily began to walk home. Severus was so taken aback by Lily giving him that kiss.

"Lily. Wait!" Severus said. She stopped and turned around. "Let me walk you home."

Lily smiled. "Okay."


End file.
